Learning vocabulary for IELTS Academic Reading: An evaluation of some pedagogical materials
Main Article Content
Abstract
A large receptive vocabulary could have a significant impact on scores in the IELTS Academic Reading test. However, the lack of official information about vocabulary in this test raises questions regarding how lexis is selected and approached in existing IELTS training materials. This paper evaluates three books issued by leading ELT publishers to assess how far they effectively help learn vocabulary for the Academic Reading test. First, the lexis in the test is identified based on what can be gleaned from official information and available research. Then, the three books are evaluated using a checklist of criteria relevant to the acquisition of this lexis. The results suggest that the materials investigated may not contribute enough towards the acquisition of vocabulary useful for success in the Academic Reading test. This paper offers some important insights into some shortcomings of current IELTS training materials and points to ways of surmounting them.
Downloads
Article Details
References
Acosta Moncada, M., Castro Donoso, J., Demarchi Gigogne, D., Jerez Escobar, M., Maltés Guajardo, J., Miranda Cuevas, P., Moraga Quiroz, C.P., & Rojas Tello, M. (2016). Content analysis of students’ English textbooks and curricula from the Chilean Ministry of Education in relation to vocabulary acquisition and language planning. Informe Final de Seminario de Grado para Optar al Grado de Licenciado en Lengua y Literatura Inglesas. Universidad de Chile: Facultad De Filosofía Y Humanidades Departamento De Lingüística. Retrieved 23 April 2020 from http://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/1376399
Alderson, J. (2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ballance, O., & Cobb, T. (2020). Resources for learning single-word items. In S. Webb (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Vocabulary Studies (pp. 320-335). Abingdon: Routledge.
Bax, S. (2013). Readers’ cognitive processes during IELTS reading tests: evidence from eye tracking. ELT Research Papers 13–06. British Council. Retrieved 15 May 2020 from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/teacher-development/publications/research-papers
Chacón-Beltrán, R. (2018). Vocabulary learning strategies outside the classroom context: what adults learn in a technology-based learner-centred environment. The Language Learning Journal, 46(5), 583–593.
Cobb, T. Compleat Web VP v.2.5 [computer program]. Accessed 18 Dec 2020 at https://www.lextutor.ca/vp/comp/
Demetriou, L. (2017). Selection, presentation and recycling of phrasal verbs in ESL textbooks in Cyprus. Paper presented at BAAL Vocabulary Special Interest Group conference, Reading, UK.
Drummond, A. (2018). Investigating the relationship between IELTS scores and receptive vocabulary size. Journal of the Foundation Year Network, 1, 113–125.
Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivational strategies in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Elgort, I. (2011). Deliberate learning and vocabulary acquisition in a second language. Language Learning, 61(2), 367–413.
Ellis, N. (2001). Memory for language. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 33-68). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
File, K., & Adams, R. (2010). Should vocabulary instruction be integrated or isolated?. TESOL Quarterly, 44(2), 222–248.
Gardner, D. (2013). Exploring vocabulary. Language in action. Abingdon and New York: Routledge.
Green, A., & Hawkey, R. (2011). An empirical investigation of the process of writing Academic Reading test items for the International English Language Testing System. In P. Thompson and L. Taylor (Eds.), IELTS Research Reports 11 (pp.273-374). Manchester: British Council.
Henriksen, B., & Danelund, L. (2015). Studies of Danish L2 learners’ vocabulary knowledge and the lexical richness of their written production in English. In P. Pietilä, K. Doró and R. Pípalová (Eds.), Lexical Issues in L2 Writing (pp. 29-56). Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Hu, M., & Nation, P. (2000). Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 3(1), 403–430.
IELTS (2020). Test taker performance 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2020, from https://www.ielts.org/research/test-taker-performancee
Laufer, B. (2003). Vocabulary Acquisition in a Second Language: Do Learners Really Acquire Most Vocabulary by Reading? Some Empirical Evidence. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 59(4), 567–587.
Laufer, B., & Ravenhorst-Kalovski, G. (2010). Lexical threshold revisited: Lexical text coverage, learners’ vocabulary size and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 22(1), 15–30.
Laufer, B., & Shmueli, K. (1997). Memorizing new words: does teaching have anything to do with it? RELC Journal, 28(1), 89–108.
Lawley, J. (2010). Conspicuous by their absence: the infrequency of very frequent words in some English as a Foreign Language textbooks. In R. Chacón Beltrán, C. Abello-Contesse and M.M. Torreblanca-López (Eds.), Insights into non-native vocabulary teaching and learning (pp.145-155). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Lin, P. (2012). Sound evidence: the missing piece of the jigsaw in formulaic language research. Applied Linguistics, 33(3), 342–347.
Lin, P. (2019). Formulaic language and speech prosody. In A. Siyanova-Chanturia and A. Pellicer-Sánchez (Eds.), Understanding formulaic language. A second-language acquisition perspective, (pp.78-94). New York: Routledge.
Little, D. (2003). Learner autonomy and second/foreign language learning. Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies Good Practice Guide. Retrieved 14 March 2020 from https://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/gpg/1409
Martinez, R. and Murphy, V. 2011. “Effect of frequency and idiomaticity on second language reading comprehension”. TESOL Quarterly, 45(2), 267–290.
Martinez, R., & Schmitt, N. (2012). A phrasal expressions list. Applied Linguistics, 33(3), 299–320.
Milton, J. (2009). Measuring second language vocabulary acquisition. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Milton, J., Wade, J., & Hopkins, N. (2010). Aural word recognition and oral competence in English as a Foreign Language. In R. Chacón Beltrán, C. Abello-Contesse and M.M. Torreblanca-López (Eds.), Insights into non-native vocabulary teaching and learning, (pp. 83-98). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Nation, P. (2011). Research into practice: vocabulary. Language Teaching, 44(4), 529–539.
Nation, P. (2013). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Nation, P., & Webb, S. (2011). Researching and analyzing vocabulary. Boston, MA: Heinle/Cengage.
O’Loughlin, R. (2012). Tuning in to vocabulary frequency in coursebooks. RELC Journal, 43(2), 255–269.
Reinders, H., & Lewis, M. (2006). An evaluative checklist for self-access materials. ELT Journal, 60(3), 272-278.
Schmitt, N. (2007). Current Perspectives on Vocabulary Teaching and Learning. In J. Cummins and C. Davidson (Eds.), International handbook of English language teaching (pp.827-841). New York: Springer.
Schmitt, N. (2008). Review article. Instructed second language vocabulary learning. Language Teaching Research, 22(3), 329–363.
Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching vocabulary. Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan.
Schmitt, N. (2013). Formulaic language and collocation. In C. Chapelle (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (pp.1-10). Hoboken (NJ): Wiley-Blackwell.
Schmitt, N. (2014). Size and depth of vocabulary knowledge. What the research shows. Language Learning, 64(4), 913–951.
Schmitt, N. (2019). Understanding vocabulary acquisition, instruction, and assessment: A research agenda. Language Teaching, 52, 261–274.
Schmitt, N., Jiang, X., & Grabe, W. (2011). The percentage of words known in a text and reading comprehension. The Modern Language Journal, 95(1), 26–43.
Schmitt, N., & Schmitt, D. (2014). A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching. Language Teaching, 47(4), 484–503.
Schmitt, N., & Zimmerman, C. (2002). Derivative word forms: What do learners know? TESOL Quarterly, 36, 145–171.
Sökmen, A. (1997). Current trends in teaching second language vocabulary”. In N. Schmitt and M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary. Description, acquisition and pedagogy (pp. 237-257). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tomlinson, B. (2010). Principles of effective materials development. In N. Harwood (Ed.), English language teaching materials: Theory & practice (pp.81-109). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tomlinson, B., & Masuhara, H. (2013). Survey revue: Adult coursebooks. ELT Journal, 67(2), 233–249.
Walter, C. (2008). Phonology in Second Language Reading: Not an Optional Extra. TESOL Quarterly, 42(3), 455–474.
Webb, S., & Nation, P. (2017). How vocabulary is learned. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Weir, C., Hawkey, R., Green, A., Unaldi, A., & Devi, S. (2009). The relationship between the academic reading construct as measured by IELTS and the reading experiences of students in their first year of study at a British university. In P. Thompson and L. Taylor (Eds.), IELTS Research Reports 9, Report 3 (pp.97-156). Manchester: British Council.